Lost Days, Lost Girls, Lost Boys
by blackbirdsheart
Summary: While Jason Todd was in Talia Al Ghul's care, there was another youth there as well. Ra's had found Cassandra Cain and intended on training her himself. Jason has been unresponsive. Talia thinks this girl can help the boy.


**A/n:** While I do not intend for this to be in the same universe as Varekai, the two could work hand in hand. Varekai is my idea of how the canon Lost Days might have been. This is only the first installment of a series that was conceived in mine (and alleybat's) mind and birthed in text.

There should have been some sign of struggle, the sound of protest or an attempt to run. She didn't make any effort to do so; she'd had resistance to her caregivers deleted from her list of instincts for the most part. So, when Talia grabbed her by the arm and started to lead her down some of the many hallways all she did was wonder why the woman was so anxious to get where she was going.

Guards were following them, confused as to whether or not they should take action. One of them spoke up, "This one is under your father's care, why are you moving her?"

Talia stopped abruptly and the coldness of her voice made the girl feel tense. "I need to prove a point."

Again the girl found her feet moving her body to keep up with Talia. She could sense that the situation was urgent and that this woman was desperate to make things work. Their steps start to slow and the girl knows they're close to their destination. The door was already open to a mostly empty room; the only furniture was a bed with no covers and a chair facing it. She followed Talia into the room even though the woman had let go of her the moment they got to the door. There was a boy lying on the bed as if he was sleeping, but his eyes were open. Talia stopped beside the chair, folding her arms and gazing down at the boy.

When the girl had caught up to her Talia didn't bother looking at her, "Sit." she quietly commanded.

The girl didn't respond to the command as much as she did to the overwhelming need to get off of her feet. The boy hardly moved, his chest rising and falling the only signal that he was living still. His stillness pulled her in, she could feel his body screaming out that he didn't want to be here. It was that feeling of distress that made her sit in the chair.

"This is Jason, he needs your help." Talia said the words to attempt communication with the girl though she knew it was futile; she couldn't speak and didn't know as much about language as she did people. It made her feel better; it made the whole situation seem more human. It made it a little less hopeless.

The girl could hear Talia leave, but her attention was invested in this boy. She'd never seen anything like this, someone so alive and so … trapped. She glanced down at his hips; the pants on his body were barely covering him. She could feel that it was making him uncomfortable; being so exposed in front of her. She reached forward to pull them up and almost immediately color flooded over his nose and cheeks.

Away from them somewhere someone was observing this and taking notes on the change. It was the first they'd seen in him since he'd arrived.

Somewhere locked in Jason's mind he was fighting between feeling trapped by his clothing and looking presentable. There was something about this girl that made him … feel.

All he could think about was how much he wanted to just be able to see her face; if he could just manage to turn his head. He stopped concentrating on this thought when he felt her fingers brush over his cheek. It was strange; he'd forgotten what this type of contact was like. Every now and then Talia had tried to hold him, but there was something missing. This felt genuine, it felt different.

He wanted more of that feeling he got when she touched him, it made breathing a little easier. He was slowly becoming aware of his head turning towards her, guided by her hand.

Again another note was made by someone somewhere; he'd always been too stiff for someone else to be able to move him.

He was surprised when he was able to look at her. He'd expected someone older than himself, another expert that Talia had sent to figure out how to fix him, not this girl. She was small, but around his age. He noticed little things like her lips at first and the way they curved in the middle. Her eyes gave away her background, but they were a warm brown rather than the muddy brown he was used to seeing. He scanned over what he could see of her and noticed a few wounds; scarred over and fresh. Beyond that everything about her was … soft and comforting to him.

His eyes flashed back to the wounds and she could feel his distress over them. She was quicker to rest her hand on his arm this time, she knew it was the best way to let him know what's going on. It didn't seem to make him feel better, she sensed frustration and his body's screaming again. Trapped. He felt trapped. His breathing quickened. He felt suffocated.

Panic rushed through her for a moment and she was afraid she'd lose him. She liked him; liked being able to converse with him, it made her feel a little less lonely; a little more relaxed. The last thing she wanted right now is to lose that so quickly.

She moved her hand from his arm to the center of his chest, pressing down just a little. He moved his gaze from the wounds to her eyes again. His breathing slowed down and she smiled

They heard footsteps; Jason found he couldn't move his eyes away from her. He didn't mind so much. She knew they'd come to get her, who knew how long she'd been here with this boy. She balled her fingers into a fist on his chest, slowly uncurling them and hoped he understood.

She'll be back.


End file.
